Tuesday, December 22, 2009

None Dare Call it Treason?

Treason1: the betrayal of a trust: treachery2: the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign’s family.Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

The original book, None Dare Call it Treason, 1964, by John A. Stormer, an ardent John Bircher, was about our losing the Cold War, presumably because our government was infiltrated by communist subversives. This paranoid fantasy eventually collapsed as there was no legitimate evidence for it. But it seems to me we have a new problem with subversives. If you follow the definition of treason above, how can you not conclude the present Republican Party is not engaged in treason? First of all, are they not betraying a trust? That is, they were elected by their constituents to act on their behalf with respect to the various problems and requirements of their society and government. By announcing they were going to vote “No” on everything, and then actually doing so, is this not a betrayal of trust? Simply announcing they would vote no on everything, and then doing so, cannot reasonably be seen as legitimate participation in government.

More importantly, by announcing very early in the Obama administration they wanted him to fail, and then refusing to cooperate with him and continuing to vote "no" exclusively on everything he attempted, is that not “attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government…?” It seems to me that it is. It also seems to me the Obama administration has simply buried its head in the sand, so to speak, and refuses to act in any way against this subversion. Indeed, in face of continued rejection, Obama still tries to reach out to these traitors. There is no doubt the motivation for Republicans has solely to do with bringing down the present administration to replace it by a new Republican one. How is that any different than, say, a revolution? Some may wish to argue that this is merely “politics as usual.” I do not think so. Normal political activity involves a give-and-take between the parties involved, there has never to my knowledge been a provision for simply opting out of politics when things do not go your way, and certainly this cannot be regarded as proper when the country is facing so many absolutely crucial decisions like those having to do with “wars,” global warming, financial meltdown, joblessness, bank failures, unprecedented home foreclosures, and so on. If this does not represent treason it certainly represents irresponsibility carried to an unprecedented extreme.

In my opinion what is happening now with the Republican Party is simply an extension of what happened during the Bush/Cheney administration, when a legitimate political party morphed into little more than a criminal conspiracy. This was a conspiracy designed to eliminate the Democratic Party (for all intents and purposes) and create a one party (Republican) system that would reign for (presumably) eternity. This would have been a Fascist regime in the best Mussolini tradition, a political party in tandem with huge corporations (the very definition of fascism). This strategy can be attributed in large part to Karl Rove, who also made it clear that no means for obtaining these ends were off limits, including the lowest, dirtiest, slimiest, most dishonest and disgusting. These developments were right in line with those of Dick (the Slimy) Cheney to change the office of the President into a Monarchy. They very nearly achieved these goals and now, having been frustrated by the unexpected election of Barack Obama, they have not given up. Why else would they have abandoned any pretense of acting in the public interest and planned instead to devote all their energy to bringing down his administration. I cannot see any other explanation for their unprecedented and destructive behavior. Those behind this attempt I am certain have nothing in common with Sarah Palin and the tea baggers, but they will not hesitate to encourage them in threatening Obama with their guns and Hitleresque slogans, their claims of death panels and socialism, and their small-minded racism. They will use them just as they used the Fundamentalists, laugh at them behind their backs, and abandon them once they have attained their goal of “The Divine Right of Corporations and the Filthy Rich.”

LKBIQ:“History proves that dictatorships do not grow out of strong and successful governments, but out of weak and helpless ones. If by democratic methods people get a government strong enough to protect them from fear and starvation, their democracy succeeds; but if they do not, they grow impatient. Therefore, the only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over its government.”Franklin Delano Roosevelt